Bambang Muryanto, Bantul, Yogyakarta – The team of lawyers representing five of the defendants in the case of the prison attack that killed four detainees in Sleman, Yogyakarta, have asked the II-11 Yogyakarta Military Court to acquit their clients over lack of evidence.
The defendants, five out of the total 12 Army Special Forces (Kopassus) soldiers on trial in the case, have maintained that they were not aware of the killings.
Reading a statement to the court on Thursday, defense attorney Lt. Col. Supriyadi asked the panel of judges of the second dossier of the case to ignore the testimonies of some witnesses.
"We ask the panel of judges to ignore the testimony of witness Indrawan," Supriyadi told the court, which was presided over by Lt. Col Faridah Faisal.
Indrawan, an employee at the penitentiary, testified that he opened the prison's entrance door because one of the defendants pointed a gun at him. His testimony, however, was not supported by other witnesses and was denied by the defendants.
The same request was also made for the testimonies given by witnesses Widiatmana and Raden Baskara Putra, who were both prison employees as well.
In this session of the trial, testimony from 17 witnesses was heard. In the previous session, the prosecutors sought a two-year jail term for each for the five defendants.
The five defendants are First Sgt. Tri Juwanto, First Sgt. Anjar Rahmanto, First Sgt. Mathius Roberto Paulus Banani, First Sgt. Suprapto and First Sgt. Hermawan Siswoyo.
The lawyers have also asked the panel of judges to accept the defendants' statements because there had been no evidence that they had planned and helped to kill the four detainees, who were slain after being arrested as suspects in the murder of Chief Sgt. Heru Santosa, a former Kopassus officer.
"The defendants had no idea that Ucok was going to commit the shootings," said Supriadi.
Prosecutors have sought a 12-year prison sentence for Sgt. Ucok Tigor Simbolon and 10-year and eight-year sentences for Second Sgt. Sugeng Sumaryanto and First Corporal Kodik, respectively. The three are the main defendants in the case and have been charged with premeditated murder.
The four detainees who were killed in the raid were Hendrik Angel Sahetapi, Yohanes Juan Manbait, Adrianus Candra Galaja and Gameliel Yermianto Rohi Riwu. In a separate trial of defendants Maj. Sgt. Rokhmadi, Maj. Sgt. Muhamad Zaenuri and Chief Sgt. Sutar, the team of lawyers also said that their clients were not guilty.
They argued that as intelligence officers they had not needed to report to their superior regarding Ucok's leaving for Yogyakarta – where he later attacked the prison and killed the four detainees – because the information had not yet classified as an A1.